Capsule with sealing means and its use in producing a beverage

ABSTRACT

A capsule contains beverage ingredients such as ground coffee, tea or other ingredients and is configured for insertion in a beverage production device in order to have a liquid under pressure have enter the capsule and to interact with the ingredients in the capsule. The capsule has a base body and a foil member closing the base body by being attached to a flange-like rim extending from the side wall of the base body of the capsule. The base body of the capsule has a resilient sealing member, the sealing member being designed to be in sealing engagement with a bell member of the beverage production device.

BACKGROUND

The present invention generally relates to capsules for containingbeverage ingredients, to a beverage producing system for use inconnection with such capsules as well as to methods for producingbeverages on the basis of ingredients contained in such capsules.

The background of the present invention is the field of capsules whichcontain beverage or other comestible (e.g. soup) ingredients. By meansof an interaction of these ingredients with a liquid, a beverage orother comestibles, such as for example soups, can be produced. Theinteraction can be for example an extraction, brewing, dissolution, etc.process. Such a capsule is particularly adapted to contain ground coffeein order to produce a coffee beverage by having hot water under pressureenter the capsule and draining a coffee beverage from the capsule.

A capsule as shown in FR 2160634 relates to an apparatus for makingcoffee beverage from a cartridge in which a water injection device isplaced hermetically against the upper side of the cartridge. The waterinjection device includes a seal which is applied on the upper rim ofthe capsule. However, the seal is part of the apparatus.

EP 0361569 A1 does not show a sealed capsule, but a coffee filter unitwhich is not sealed when placed into the coffee machine but simply pressfitted in a cartridge casing, such that water can be poured on a filterpaper provided at the open upper side of the coffee filter unit. Toavoid spilling of water outside the filter unit's upper rim, theperipheral portion of a filter paper is clamped between the outer rim ofthe coffee filter unit wall and the surrounding wall of the machine.Such a design is a device which filters a beverage at atmosphericpressure and which is so not adapted to withstand the typical waterinjection pressure of e.g. more than 3 bars or even much higher pressurewhich reigns in the capsule when an espresso-style coffee is produced.

FR 2617389 describes a low cost filter cartridge adapted to be brewed atrelatively low pressure in a beverage device. The body of the capsule isentirely made from injection-moulded plastic, preferably polypropyleneas the main constituent of the capsule. The capsule has a flangelike-rim made of the same material as the main constituent of thecapsule which is thus crushed during closure of the device about thecapsule. The capsule is combined to a brewing device which is abayonet-like closure system which applies closure forces on thecapsule's rim which depends on the tightening torque applied by theuser. Therefore, the capsule's rim is crushed up to a point at which acertain seal effect can be obtained. One problem is that it is notpossible with a simple flange-like rim, even with an increase ofthickness, made of the same plastic material as the body of the capsulethat normally requires a sufficient rigidity, to provide a seal effectwhich is sufficient to stop water or maintain a controlled internalpressure level, at the elevated relative pressure of extraction; i.e.,within a pressure range sufficient to deliver an espresso-like coffeewith crema. Furthermore, most modern beverage machines have closuredevices that close at a predefined closure force and do not depend onthe user's force therefore requiring an adaptation of the seal to themachine and not the opposite.

Systems and methods for obtaining fluid comestibles from substancescontaining capsules are for example known from EP-A-512470 (counterpartof U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,707).

SUMMARY

According to another aspect of the present invention a capsule isproposed having a base body and/or foil member made of plasticsmaterial, wherein at least a portion of the base body is designed to beperforated when properly placed in the beverage production device.

According to another aspect a beverage producing system is proposedcomprising such capsule and a beverage production device.

According to a further aspect of the present invention the method forproducing a beverage is proposed in which a pressure-tight sealingengagement of an element of the beverage production device and a sealingmember of the capsule assures that the only liquid medium flow pathbetween the perforated opening in the top wall of the cup-like base andthe opening in the foil member traverses the interior of the capsule.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to a beverage producingmethod according to which both in the base body and the foil member ofsuch capsule, both being made of plastics, perforations are generated.

The term “matching pressing surface” as used herein is typically aportion of the beverage production device. This can be a surface of theenclosing member which is typically one part of the device which coversat least one side of the capsule upon closing of the device to encompassthe capsule.

Additional features and advantages are described herein, and will beapparent from, the following Detailed Description and the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows an extraction capsule known from EP-A-512470.

FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the present invention in which acapsule is placed on the capsule holder but has not yet reached itsclosing position in the beverage production device.

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged in view of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 shows the first embodiment in a state, in which a capsule hasreached its closing position between a bell member and the capsuleholder.

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a capsule holder, a bell member and acapsule according to the first embodiment in a position in which thecapsule has not yet reached its closing position.

FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a detail of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 shows the second embodiment in a state in which the capsule hasreached its closing position.

FIG. 10 shows a third embodiment in which the sealing member of thecapsule is part of the side wall of the capsule.

FIG. 11 is a detailed view of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 shows the sealing engagement according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 13 shows a fourth embodiment in which the sealing member is part ofthe top wall member of the capsule.

FIG. 14 shows the fourth embodiment in the final state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The capsule 101, as shown in FIG. 1 has a frustroconically-shaped cup102 which may be filled e.g. with roasted and ground coffee 103 andwhich is closed by a foil-like tear face cover 104 welded and/or crimpedto a flange-like rim which extends laterally from the side-wall of cup102. A capsule holder 111 comprises a flow grill 112 with relief surfaceelement members 113.

The capsule holder 111 is accommodated in its support 115 which has alateral wall 124 and a bore 127 for the passage of extracted coffeebeverage.

As can be seen from FIG. 1 the extraction system further comprises awater injector 107 having a water inlet channel 120 and an annularelement 108 with an internal recess of which the shape substantiallycorresponds to the outer shape of the capsule. On its outer part, theannular member 108 comprises a spring 122 holding a ring 123 forreleasing the capsule on completion of extraction.

In operation, a capsule 101 is placed in the capsule holder 111. Thewater injector 107 perforates the upper face of the cup 102. The lowertear face 104 of the capsule rests on the radially arranged members 113of the capsule holder 111.

The water is injected through the channel 120 of the water injector 107and impinges on the bed 103 of coffee. The pressure in the capsule 101increases and the tear face 104 increasingly follows the shape of theradial opening relief members 113. Such radial opening relief memberscould be replaced by pyramid-shaped reliefs or other shapes of relief.When the constituent material of the tear face reaches its breakingstress, the tear face tears along the relief members. The extractedcoffee flows through the orifices of the flow grill 112 and is recoveredin a container (not shown) beneath the bore 127.

The principles of this extraction process as far as it can be maintainedin connection with the present invention can be summarized as follows:

An initially sealed capsule is inserted in capsule holder means;

The capsule holder means is then introduced associated to the waterinjection means of the machine such that an annular element (108 in FIG.4) surrounds the sealed capsule.

In a first wall of the capsule at least one opening is generated.

Water entering the capsule through the opening in the first wall isinteracting with the ingredients contained in the capsule whiletraversing the interior of the capsule and is then made to leave thecapsule through at least one opening/perforation created in the secondwall.

The ingredients in the capsule constitute the “bottleneck” of the flowpath of the water and will therefore cause a pressure drop between theupstream and the downstream side of the liquid flow through the capsule,which pressure drop will even increase during the interaction betweenthe liquid and the ingredients for example due to a swelling of theingredients. Correspondingly it has to be assured that the only waterflow is actually taking place through the interior of the capsule (arrowA1) and that no water can flow from the water injector into theinterstice between the annular enclosing member 108 and the exterior ofthe capsule 101 and then to the draining bore 127 of the device. Thearrow A2 illustrates this undesired water flow path. With other words,any water flow exterior to the capsule 101 has to be stopped by asealing engagement being positioned in the interstice between theannular member 108 and the capsule 101 and in the flow path between thewater injector and the beverage-draining bore. In the embodiment asshown in FIG. 1 such sealing engagement can be achieved at least to acertain degree by the pinching engagement between the annular member108, the flange-like rim of the side wall of the capsule 101 and thecapsule holder.

In case the sealing engagement is not working properly and water isflowing outside the capsule, no pressure sufficient to cause the tearingof the tear face will be built up inside the capsule or, alternatively,the pressure will be causing no complete tearing of the tear face andtherefore a poor extraction of the substance. In such a scenario waterwill be drained from the beverage production device without havinginteracted or fully interacted under sufficient pressure conditions,with the ingredients contained in the capsule.

An improvement could be thought of according to which this sealingengagement is further improved by lining the inner wall of the annularmember with a rubber-elastic material. With other words, according tosaid approach the sealing engagement is assured by structures fixed toor attached with the beverage-producing device. This has disadvantagesin that after the use of a substantial number of capsules a wearing offof the fixed sealing means can take place such that the quality of theproduced beverage is increasingly deteriorated by water passing the nolonger properly efficient sealing.

Any “leak” at the exterior of the capsule reduces the pressure build-upinside the capsule. On the other hand, it is well known that asufficient extraction pressure is a key factor for the quality ofespresso-style coffee.

The present invention correspondingly aims at an improvement of thesealing engagement positioned between the liquid inlet and the beveragedraining side of such a beverage production system.

It is thereby the central idea of the present invention to transfer aresilient part of the sealing engagement from the beverage productiondevice to the capsule. The advantage is that any resilient sealingmember is only used once (i.e. only with the associated capsule) suchthat a proper functioning of the sealing can be assured and no hygienicproblems can occur at the sealing member.

Note that the present invention thus especially aims at an improvementof the capsules, such that state-of-the-art beverage production deviceswith built-in sealing means as for example shown in EP-A-512470 can alsobe used in connection with a capsule according to the present invention.

The object is achieved by means of the features of the independentclaims. The depending claims develop further the central idea of thepresent invention.

According to a first aspect of the present invention a capsule forcontaining beverage (or other liquid comestibles) ingredients isproposed. The capsule is designed for insertion in a beverage productiondevice in order to have a liquid under pressure have enter the capsuleand to interact with the ingredients in the capsule. According to theinvention the outer surface of the capsule comprises a resilient sealingmember being structurally arranged to be in a sealing engagement with atleast a matching pressing surface of the beverage production device.

The resilient sealing member of the capsule is deformed when the capsuleis put in sealing engagement with the enclosing member of the beverageproduction device. The deformation leads to an initial biasing of thesealing member against the enclosing member.

The sealing member can thereby be resilient due to its shape and/or thematerial used.

The sealing member can be bendable so that it can exert a biasing forceagainst the matching pressing surface of the beverage production device.

The sealing member can also be compressible so that the sealingengagement is obtained by the pressing surface of the beverageproduction device exerting a positive pressure force on the sealingmember, from a first uncompressed thickness of the capsule to a secondcompressed thickness of the member.

The sealing member can be made integral to the capsule or be associatedas a separate piece to the capsule. In the latter case the sealingmember can be removable or, alternatively, can be fixedly connected tothe capsule.

The sealing member can for example have the shape of an O or L-shapedring.

The sealing member can be attached to the capsule using an adhesive orby (thermal or ultrasonic) welding. Alternatively the sealing member canbe held in position surrounding the capsule due to its inherent materialtension or stretching characteristics. In another possible embodiment,the sealing member may be pinched by the capsule material.

The capsule can be made of plastics or a metal such as e.g. aluminum.

With reference to FIG. 2 now a first detailed embodiment will beexplained.

Note that in the following the invention will be explained referring toa certain design of a capsule, i.e. a design according to which thecapsule comprises a cup-like base body and a closing foil member.However, it is to be understood than other designs of the capsule areviable, such as e.g. capsules having an inverted cone or a lenticularform with two essentially matching and opposing walls (e.g. foils) beingsealed at the e.g. ring-shaped edge. Generally a capsule according tothe present invention comprises at least two opposing wall members whichare connected to each other at the edges to form a sealed flange-likerim area, thus enclosing a sealed interior.

Comparable to the prior art also this embodiment shows a capsule holder13 having relief elements 12 which are designed to tear and perforate afoil member 5 closing off a cup-like base body 4 of the capsule 1. Thistearing of the foil member can e.g. occur as soon as the pressure insidethe capsule exceeds a threshold value. The word “tearing” includesactions such as breaking, cutting or puncturing as well as typicaltearing by stretching the material beyond its tensile strength. Notethat the relief elements can have any protruding shape able to cause a(partial) tearing of the foil member. As an example only pyramids,needles, blades, bumps, cylinders, elongated ribs are cited.

Within the capsule 1 ingredients 3 are contained, wherein theingredients 3 are selected such that a beverage can be produced whenhaving a liquid entering the capsule in the region of the top wall 17 ofthe capsule 1 and then interact which such ingredients 3. Preferredingredients are e.g. ground coffee, tea or any other ingredients fromwhich a beverage or other liquid or viscous comestible (e.g. soup) canbe produced.

FIG. 2 shows a state in which such a capsule has been placed on acapsule holder 13, the foil member 5 resting on the relief element 12side of the capsule holder 13 and the cup-like base body 4 of thecapsule 1 being already partly surrounded by the circumferential wall 25of an enclosing member 9 of the beverage production device. The shownenclosing member has the shape of a bell. Other shapes are viable,wherein the design of the interior contours (recess) of the enclosingmember is generally adapted to substantially match the contours of thecapsule 1.

Note that the foil member 5 as shown is not exactly flat due to adefined over pressure inside the capsule, which over pressure isgenerated by introducing e.g. a protective gas when producing the filledcapsule.

The capsule can also include one of more inner filters. A bottom filtercan be placed in contact with the inner surface of the foil 5 and/or atop filter can be placed at least partially in contact with the innersurface of the body 4.

In another mode, the capsule can also have foil member 5 which is flator even curved inwardly toward the interior of the chamber and thatdeforms at a certain amplitude as a response to the pressure exertedinside the chamber during the extraction process.

The enclosing (bell) member 9 furthermore comprises an annular supportskirt 18, the function of which will be explained later, an externalthread 19 for mounting the bell member in a beverage production deviceand a water inlet opening 20 for feeding a liquid such as for examplehot water under pressure to a water injector 14 which is releasablemounted (screwed) to the bell member 9.

Note that the thread 19 is just an example for connection means, be itreleasable or permanent connection means.

The other components of the beverage production device, such as e.g. themechanism for displacing the bell member and eventually also the capsuleholder are known from the prior art in the field of capsule-basedespresso machines.

The water injector comprises a perforation element (blade, pin, etc.) 24designed to produce an opening in the top wall 17 of the capsule 1 whenthe capsule holder 13 and the bell member 9 are moved close togethere.g. by a manually operated or an automatic mechanism. A channel (notshown in the drawings) traverses the perforation element 14 such thatwater can be fed to the interior of the capsule 1 once the perforationelement 14 protrudes into the interior of the capsule 1.

The capsule 1 comprises said top wall 17, a sidewall 7 and a flange-likerim 6 with a clamping portion 29, wherein the foil member 5 is sealed tosaid flange-like rim 6 to close-off hermetically the cup-like base body4 of the capsule 1. Again, other designs for the capsule are possible aslong as the capsule can be sealed and contain the mentioned ingredients.

According to the present invention the outer surface of the capsule 1presents a dedicated sealing member 8. The sealing member 8 can beresilient due to the material used and/or due to the geometrical shapeof the sealing member 8.

Further on, the sealing member 8 can be integral to the capsule 1 or aseparate piece. In the latter case the sealing member can be mountedreleasably to the base body 4 or fixed thereto e.g. by welding or bymeans of an adhesive.

In case the sealing member 8 is a separate piece attached to the capsule1, it can be mounted to the capsule as one integral piece. Alternativelyit can be applied in fluid or viscous form and then can harden (e.g.polymerize) once applied onto the outer surface of the capsule, which isthe case e.g. when applying silicone.

If a resilient material is used for the sealing member 8, preferablyrubber-elastic materials are used. The term “rubber-elastic” means anysuitable material having rubber elasticity including but not limited toelastomers, silicones, plastics, latex, balata or others.

Particularly suitable materials for the seal member 8 are: EPDM(Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer), NBR (Acrylic Nitrile Rubber), TPE(thermoplastic elastomer) or silicone rubber. These materials haveparticular good flex, compressive properties and can resist hightemperatures without cracking.

In case the material of the sealing member is the same as the one usedfor the capsule (e.g. a metal such as aluminum or plastics), preferablythe resilient nature of the sealing member is procured by thegeometrical shape of the sealing member.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 2 the sealing member 8 isresiliently deflectable due to the lip-shaped form. It prolongs theclamping portion 29 of the flange-like rim but it is not supposed to beclamped so as to be able to deflect freely under pressure. It is madefrom the same material as the capsule, preferably plastics. It can be anintegral piece of the base body 4 of the capsule 1.

The clamping portion 29 of the flange-like rim is configured to form anannular surface that is clamped at least partially by the matchingsurfaces of the beverage production device. As a result, the sealingmember 8 is released from the forces or stresses that can apply as aresult of the tearing of the foil member 5 onto the relief elements 12.

The flexible free lip 8 extends from the outer edge of the flange-likerim 6 and is inclined outwards. In the shown embodiment the flexible lipis the edge of the side walls of the base body of the capsule, whichedge is bent by an angle A (relative to the flat clamping portion of theflange-like rim or sealing plane P) of more than about 90 degrees,preferably comprised between 95 and 175 degrees.

Note that such deflectable sealing member 8 can be placed at anyposition onto the capsule 1 as long as the position is adapted for anexterior sealing engagement of the sealing member 8 and the enclosingmember 9 between the water injector 14 and the perforations in the foilmember 5. The sealing member 8 can also be provided on the region of thetop wall 17 of the capsule 1 surrounding the water injector 14 when thewater injector 14 is in a position protruding into the interior of thecapsule 1. The sealing member 8 can also be arranged to cover differentportions (bottom, side wall, flange-like rim) of the capsule.

As can be seen in detail in FIG. 3, the bell member 9 according to thisembodiment does not comprise any dedicated resilient sealing member.However, the bell member optionally can also comprise a resilientsealing member.

An inclined sealing surface 15 of the bell member 9 is designed tocooperate with the resiliently deflectable sealing member 8 of thecapsule 1. The sealing surface 15 is inclined toward the free flexiblelip constituting the sealing member. In particular, the sealing surface15 forms preferably an angle B relative to the sealing or closure planeP, when measured in the inward direction of the capsule, of 90 degreesor less. Preferably, the angle B is of from 85 to 50 degrees.

Depending on the form and material of the sealing member 8 of thecapsule 1, the cooperating surface of the bell member 9 can have anyshape, position and orientation which are adapted for a sealingengagement with the sealing member 8 of the capsule 1.

Upon closing of the device about the capsule, as shown in FIG. 4, thebell member 9 and capsule holder 13 clamp together the capsule along theclamping portion 29 of the flange-like rim. For this the bell member 9can include one or more annular raising portions that firmly pinch orclamp the clamping portion 29 of the capsule onto a receiving portionsurface 31 of the capsule holder. The clamping portion can further forman indent that is complementary an indentation of the surface 31.Therefore, an annular chamber 32 is formed as resulting from theassembly in closure of the bell member 9 and capsule holder 13 thatencloses the sealing member 8. As a result the capsule is firmly held inplace and tensile forces are released at the free lip that can deflectfreely in the chamber toward the inclined surface 15 whereby a perfectwatertight sealing can be obtained.

FIG. 4 shows the state in which the bell member 9 and the capsule holder13 are brought in closing pressure engagement and due to the waterentering the interior of the capsule and building up a pressure therethe pyramidal relief members 12 of the capsule holder 13 have alreadyproduced openings in the foil member 5 of the capsule 1. Upon insertionof the capsule the blade element 24 of the water injector 14 creates aperforation 16 in the top wall 17 of the capsule 1. When a sufficientpressure of fluid has been built inside the capsule, the beverageproduced from the ingredients contained in the capsule can be drained insmall interstices between the relief members 12 and the surrounding foilmember 5.

In the state shown in FIG. 4 the resiliently deflectable sealing member8 of the capsule 1, i.e. the flexible lip, is biased against thecorresponding inclined sealing surface 15 of the enclosing member 9. Theannular support skirt 18 now covers the end of the flange-like rim 6 ofthe capsule 1 while the clamping portion 29 is clamped between surfaces30, 31 of the device to ensure that the sealing member 8 and the capsuleas such remain in position when the sealing surface 15 of the bellmember exerts a certain pressure force of the sealing member 8.

Actually, the lip-shaped sealing member 8 represents an example of aconstruction for providing a self-reinforcing sealing engagement. Watercoming from the water injector will be pressurized within the intersticebetween the exterior of the capsule and the enclosing member and willeventually arrive at the lip-shaped sealing member. The lip-shapedsealing member will block the water flow as it is biased against thesealing surface of the annular member. This blocking effect will lead tothe pressure raising at the upstream-side of the sealing member which inturn will lead to the sealing member being pressed even stronger againstthe sealing surface and thus to a sealing engagement which is thestronger the higher the pressure at the sealing engagement.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5 grooves 22 are provided in the circumferenceof capsule holder 13, which grooves 22 act to evacuate water which couldsettle or accumulate on the upper surface of the capsule holder 13 ordripping out of the capsule before the capsule has been removed.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment essentially corresponding to a variant of thefirst embodiment of FIG. 2. The sealing member 8 according to thisembodiment is compressible. It covers both a portion of the side wall 7and the area between the outer end of the flange-like rim 6 of thecapsule 1 and said side wall 7. (The sealing member can also cover onlya portion of the side wall 7 of the base body 4 of the capsule 1.) Thesealing member 8 according to this embodiment has a non-symmetrical,i.e. L-shaped cross-section. The sealing member can be made of amaterial that is more resilient than the material of the base body. Inparticular, the sealing member can have a hardness that is lower thanthe hardness of the material of the base body 4 of the capsule.

The sealing member is preferably a rubber-like material. Particularlysuitable materials are: EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer), NBR(Acrylic Nitrile Rubber), TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) or siliconerubber. These materials have particular good flex, compressiveproperties and can resist high temperatures without cracking.

Alternatively, the sealing member 8 can have other shapes such as e.g. afilm applied to the capsule, an O-ring, etc.

When the capsule 1 is in a position as shown in FIG. 4 and then, afterhaving finished the beverage production process, the holder 13 isopened, there is a risk that the capsule 1, instead of falling down,remains sucked into the bell member 9 due a “vacuum effect”. As shown inFIG. 8 the invention proposes to provide for a mechanism which-assuresthat the type sealing engagement between the capsule 1 and the bellmember 9 is only present as long as the bell member 9 is engaged againstthe capsule holder 13, but automatically released such that air can getinto the space between the top wall 17 and the side walls 7 of thecapsule 1 and the inner wall of the bell member 9, respectively.

As can be seen from FIG. 8, especially in case the sealing member 8covers a portion of the side walls 7 of the capsule 1, the annular frontsurface of the bell member 9 can be provided with grooves 21 which, actas air inlet passage for feeding air. The grooves allow the intake ofair once the biasing force between the bell member 9 and the capsuleholder 13 is released. Air is thus flowing into this space and it willbe easier for the user to take out the capsule 1. Eventually, thecapsule 1 will even automatically fall down from the bell element 9.

FIG. 9 shows the state of the second embodiment in which the frontsurface 23 of the bell member 9 is in sealing engagement with thesealing member 8 of the capsule 1.

FIGS. 10 to 12 show a third embodiment of the present invention in whichthe resilient nature of the sealing member is due to the geometricalhollow shape of the capsule itself. In the depicted embodiment thesealing member has the shape of a step 26, i.e. a sudden increase of thediameter of the side wall 7 of the capsule 1. Therefore, the sealingmember forms a hollow deflectable and compressible structure sufficientto deforms under the closure forces applied by the bell-shaped memberonto the capsule holder 13. Note that the geometrical form is notlimited to the shown step and other forms are viable as long as theyprocure a resilient or at least deformable nature of the sealing member.

The step-like sealing member 26 according to this embodiment is only oneexample for a hollow sealing member (in contrast e.g. to the “filled”sealing member 8 according to the second embodiment, FIGS. 6 to 9). Whenthe resiliency of the sealing member is procured by the geometricalhollow shape, usually a deflection of the sealing member occurs (here:inwards and downwards deformation of the step). On the other hand, whenthe resilient nature is due to the material used and a “filled” sealingmember is used, usually a compression and/or displacement of thematerial occurs. Preferably, the material for the capsule will be chosenamongst polymeric materials having deflectable and resilient properties.

The sealing surface 15 according to this embodiment is inclined. Thusthe sealing pressure has a first component being directed radiallyinside and another component being directed axially (downwards in FIG.12).

As can be seen especially from FIG. 12, the foil member 5 can be wrapped(see reference 27) over the rim of the capsule.

FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 show a fourth embodiment in which the sealing memberis an O-ring 11. The O-ring is geometrically arranged and, preferablyfixed, on the top wall 17 of the capsule 1. This is just an example ofproviding a sealing member at the exterior of the capsule 1 at the sidewhich faces the water injector and which will be perforated in order tocreate the water inlets to the capsule 1.

The O-ring 11 is positioned to peripherally surround the area in whichthe water injector 14 perforates the top wall 17 of the capsule 1. Thesealing member 11 is thus compressed by the bottom 28 of the enclosingmember 9 and (see FIG. 14) secured in place by the upper end of thecircumferential side wall 25 of the enclosing member 9.

Note that the bottom 28 can be substantially flat or inclined to ensurea sufficiently water-tight interface with the sealing member 11 when thecapsule is fully engaged in the enclosing member 9 at closing of thedevice.

As an alternative to the O-ring 11, also a deflectable lip-like sealingmember (e.g. comparable to the lip 8 according to the first embodiment,see FIG. 2) can be placed protruding from the top wall 17 of the capsule1, i.e. the wall facing the water injector 14.

In any case, the bottom 28 will exert an axial compression force on thesealing member 11.

In case e.g. an O-ring is placed on the side wall 7 of the capsule 1,the radial component of the compression force will prevail.

In an alternative, the foil member 5 could be replaced by a wall thatcan be pierced against at least one relief element before water isinjected in the capsule, for instance, as resulting of the closure ofthe machine about the capsule.

It should be understood that various changes and modifications to thepresently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent tothose skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present subjectmatter and without diminishing its intended advantages. It is thereforeintended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appendedclaims.

1. A capsule for containing beverage ingredients, the capsule beingdesigned for insertion in a beverage production device in which a liquidunder pressure enters the capsule in order to interact with theingredients in the capsule and to produce a beverage from the capsule,wherein the capsule comprises a cup-like body comprising a top wall, aflange-like rim, a sidewall extending between the top wall and the rim,and a transition area connecting the sidewall and flange-like rim, withthe flange-like rim comprising a transverse extension that includes aportion for being pressed on each side between matching surfaces of thebeverage production device, and a sealing member provided on thetransverse extension portion of the flange-like rim and extending overthe transition area and to the sidewall, the sealing member beingconfigured to be compressible in sealing engagement with at least amatching pressing surface of the beverage production device and thesealing member being resilient.
 2. The capsule according to claim 1,wherein the sealing member is resilient due to its shape.
 3. The capsuleaccording to claim 1, wherein the sealing member is arranged to exert abiasing force against the matching pressing surface of the beverageproduction device.
 4. The capsule according to claim 1, wherein thesealing member is compressible and resilient due to the constituentmaterial.
 5. The capsule according to claim 1, wherein the sealingmember has a hollow deflectable structure.
 6. The capsule according toclaim 4, wherein the sealing member is designed to compress from a firstuncompressed thickness to a second compressed thickness.
 7. The capsuleaccording to claim 1, wherein the sealing member is made of a materialother than the material of the rest of the capsule.
 8. The capsuleaccording to claim 7, wherein the sealing member is made of a materialhaving a lower hardness than the material of the rest of the capsule. 9.The capsule according to claim 6, wherein the sealing member is made ofa rubber-elastic material.
 10. The capsule according to claim 9, whereinthe rest of the capsule is made of non-rubber elastic material and/ormetal such as aluminum.
 11. The capsule according to claim 1, whereinthe sealing member is made from at least one of the constituentmaterial(s) of the rest of the capsule.
 12. The capsule according toclaim 1, wherein the capsule is comprised of a first and a second wallelement being connected with each other in an gas-tight fashion in aflange-like rim area in order to create a sealed interior for theingredients.
 13. The capsule according to claim 1, wherein the capsulecomprises a cup-like base body and a closure member.
 14. The capsuleaccording to claim 11, wherein the sealing member is an integral part ofone of the wall elements.
 15. The capsule according to claim 6, whereinthe sealing member is a piece different from the wall elements of thecapsule.
 16. The capsule according to claim 15, wherein the sealingmember has the shape of an O-ring.
 17. The capsule according to claim16, wherein the sealing member has a L-shaped cross-section.
 18. Thecapsule according to claim 15, wherein the sealing member is attached toone of the wall elements using an adhesive or by welding or by pinchingor crimping or a combination thereof.
 19. A beverage producing system,comprising a capsule for containing beverage ingredients, the capsulebeing designed for insertion in a beverage production device in which aliquid under pressure enters the capsule in order to interact with theingredients in the capsule and to produce a beverage from the capsule,wherein the capsule comprises a cup-like body comprising a top wall, aflange-like rim, a sidewall extending between the top wall and the rim,and a transition area connecting the sidewall and flange-like rim, withthe flange-like rim comprising a transverse extension that a portion forbeing pressed on each side between by matching surfaces of the beverageproduction device, and a sealing member provided on the transverseextension portion of the flange-like rim and extending over thetransition area and to the sidewall, the sealing member being configuredto be compressible in sealing engagement with at least a matchingpressing surface of the beverage production device and the sealingmember being resilient; and a beverage production device having anenclosing member adapted to be selectively in sealing engagement withthe sealing member of the capsule.
 20. The system according to claim 19,wherein the sealing engagement is only effective as long as theenclosing member exerts a minimum pressure on the capsule, but isautomatically released as soon as the pressure falls below said minimumpressure.
 21. The system according to claim 20, wherein grooves areprovided in the circumference of the enclosing member, which grooves actas air inlet passages for feeding air through these grooves and throughthe released sealing engagement between the capsule and the enclosingmember.
 22. The system according to claim 19, wherein the enclosingmember comprises additional sealing means adapted to assist to thesealing engagement between the enclosing member and the capsule.
 23. Thesystem according to claim 19, wherein the sealing pressure acting at thesealing engagement has a radial an/or axial component relative to thecenter axis of the capsule.
 24. A method for producing a beverage, whichcomprises: inserting a capsule according to claim 1 into a beverageproduction device configured to receive the capsule and having at leasta matching pressing surface for engaging the sealing member of thecapsule for compression thereof; introducing water into the capsule forcombining with the beverage ingredients to form the beverage; anddispensing the beverage from the capsule and device; wherein the watercan only flow through the capsule due to the sealing engagement of thesealing member and matching pressing surface of the device.
 25. Themethod of claim 24, wherein the capsule comprises a cup-like base bodyand a bottom closure member, and which further comprises introducing thewater through the top wall of the capsule and dispensing the beveragethrough the bottom closure member.
 26. A method for producing a beverageusing the beverage producing system of claim 19, which comprises:inserting the capsule into the beverage production device with thematching pressing surface engaging the sealing member of the capsule forcompression thereof; introducing water into the of the capsule forcombining with the beverage ingredients to form the beverage; anddispensing the beverage from the capsule and device; wherein the watercan only flow through the capsule due to the sealing engagement of thesealing member and matching pressing surface of the beverage productiondevice.
 27. The capsule according to claim 1, wherein the sealing memberis a rubber-like material selected from the group consisting of EPDM,NBR, TPE or silicone rubber.
 28. The system according to claim 19,wherein the sealing member is a rubber-like material selected from thegroup consisting of EPDM, NBR, TPE or silicone rubber.